David Kuo Sells 29,227 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) insider David Kuo sold 29,227 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $4,867,172.31. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,078 shares in the company, valued at $24,825,959.34. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $167.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $13.43 billion, a PE ratio of -253.55 and a beta of 3.66. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.90 and a 12-month high of $233.67.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.The business had revenue of $151.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAOI. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.80.

More Applied Optoelectronics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AAOI continues to benefit from trader enthusiasm around AI datacenter infrastructure and optical connectivity. Investors are still bidding up “AI plumbing” names that provide the fiber-optic gear needed for large-scale data centers. Article: Applied Optoelectronics Shares Are Climbing Monday: What’s Driving The Action?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insiders, including the CEO, CFO, and other executives, sold shares on June 12. The company said these sales were made to cover tax withholding tied to vesting equity awards, which makes them less alarming than discretionary selling, but the cluster of filings may still create some short-term pressure on sentiment. Article: Insider filing for Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang Article: Insider filing for David C. Kuo Article: Insider filing for Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin Article: Insider filing for Stefan J. Murry Article: Insider filing for Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also highlighted a bearish comparison note from Jim Cramer, who favored Corning over Applied Optoelectronics. That could weigh on AAOI relative to peers in the optical networking space. Article: Jim Cramer Recommends Corning Over Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures high-speed fiber-optic networking products designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of data centers, telecommunications carriers and internet content providers. The company’s core offerings include pluggable optical transceiver modules, transponders and optical components that enable data transmission at rates ranging from 1G to 400G. These products are used to facilitate long-haul, metro and intra-data center connectivity, addressing the need for scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient solutions in modern network infrastructures.

The company’s product portfolio spans small-form factor pluggable modules such as SFP+, QSFP+ and QSFP28 units, as well as more advanced form factors like CFP2 and OSFP for ultra-high-speed applications.